State schools chief praises Oxnard Union's career technology education program

Juan Carlo/The Star
Tom Torlakson, the state schools chief, gets ready to speak at the Tower Club in Oxnard. The Oxnard Union High School District in collaboration with the Ventura County Office of Education put together “Linking Learning with our Business and Community Leaders” program and luncheon. The business and community leaders participated in an interactive electronic polling and round table discussion for preparing the next generation.

Ventura County Star

Juan Carlo/The Star
Tom Torlakson, the state schools chief, speaks at the Alliance for Linked Learning at the Tower Club in Oxnard. The Oxnard Union High School District in collaboration with the Ventura County Office of Education put together “Linking Learning with our Business and Community Leaders” program and luncheon.

Ventura County Star

Juan Carlo/The Star
Gabe Soumakian, Oxnard Union High School District superintendent, participates in an interactive electronic polling at the Alliance for Linked Learning at the Tower Club in Oxnard.

Ventura County Star

Juan Carlo/The Star
Gabe Soumakian, Oxnard Union High School District superintendent, participates in an interactive electronic polling at the in Oxnard. The Oxnard Union High School District in collaboration with the Ventura County Office of Education put together “Linking Learning with our Business and Community Leaders” program and luncheon.

Ventura County Star

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson met with local education, business and community leaders today to discuss the importance of collaborating across sectors to improve students' college and career readiness.

Torlakson said the Oxnard Union High School District is leading the state with its career technology education programs that include business, engineering, health science, agriculture, tourism, transportation, among many others.

"It's connecting young people to their own talents, to their inner strengths, to their aspirations, to their dreams," he said. "Making that education relevant is what motivates young people to stay the course."

During his trip to Ventura County, Torlakson visited technology academies at Oxnard Union's Channel Islands and Oxnard high schools. The district boasts one of 20 statewide "Linked Learning" grants that pair professional experience with career technical education in the classroom.

"My department reviewed applications from all over California and Oxnard Union's was right at the very, very top," Torlakson said. "It's not only in the top 20, it's in the top five in the state."

While the district is excelling with its 11 professional academies and one under development, Superintendent Gabe Soumakian said the grant will be used to better connect schools with local businesses and community organizations to get students more professional experience before leaving high school.

"We realize that high schools, in particular, cannot be the same way they've always been," Soumakian said. "Our world is changing, our technology is changing, business is changing — we have to redesign the high school experience for all of our students."

Educational consultant Michael Seaton, who wrote Oxnard Union's "Linked Learning" grant application, said the district has proposed a $1.2 million budget in additional resources from the California Department of Education to improve its career technology education programs.

Soumakian said the only way to ensure jobs not only stay in the United States, but also in Ventura County, is to create stronger ties across sectors so schools can equip students with the skills that local businesses are seeking in new hires.

Haas Automation, Inc. Vice President Peter Zierhut agreed.

"We have a lot of jobs at Haas," said the employer of nearly 1,500 workers in Oxnard. "Those jobs are mostly manufacturing-based jobs. A lot of them are on the factory floor and those are jobs where you don't need a four-year degree, you don't need a two-year degree. You could get by with minimal training, but it would be nice if people came to us with some of that background."

Zierhut said Soumakian sought out Haas a couple of years ago to build a better relationship between the manufacturer and the district's high schools. That partnership has grown into a future manufacturing and product development academy at Rio Mesa High School, Zierhut said.

"We hope it'll be something that leads toward a better-prepared workforce," he said.

Hass is just one of many local relationships that Channel Islands High School's three professional academies have established over the past five years, Principal Maricruz Hernandez said.

The high school is home to a Business and Finance Academy, Marine Science Academy and Transportation Technology Academy — all of which Torlakson visited Thursday morning, Hernandez said.

The academies' approximately 360 students have toured Haas, Naval Base Ventura County, Channel Islands National Park and other local institutions, Hernandez said.

"It's opening a door to new opportunities that, in the past, they didn't have because they weren't in the classrooms or in the school site," she said. "It's really exposing them to those outside-of-the-school experiences that before they didn't have."